Dispenser for closure device with price tag



Nov. 26, 1968 F. HILTON 3,412,895

DISPENSER FOR CLOSURE DEVICE WITH PRICE TAG Filed Dec. 20, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BUCKHORN, BLORE, KLARQU/ST 8 SPAR/(MAN ATTORNEYS Nov. 26, 1968 F. E. HILTON 3,412,895 7 DISPENSER FOR CLOSURE DEVICE WITH PRICE TAG Filed Dec. 20, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I24 23 FIG 6' FRANK E. HILTON BY INVENTOR BUG/(HORN, BLORE, KLAROU/ST 8 SPAR/(MAN ATTORNEKS United States Patent O 3,412,895 DISPENSER FOR CLOSURE DEVICE WITH PRICE TAG Frank E. Hilton, Milwaukie, Oreg., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Kwik Lek Corp., Yakima, Wash, a corporation of Washington Filed Dec. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 514,923 4 Claims. (Cl. 22123) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tubular magazine for receiving a stack of cardboard tags equiped with flat plastic bag closures glued to bottom faces thereof, said stack gravitating onto a magazine bottom plate where said tags are successively partially withdrawn forwardly from the bottom of the stack by a lug successively engaging said closures, to a position where the closure of the tag thus withdrawn is exposed and supported for pressurally applying a bag neck thereto, means being provided for actuating said lug manually as part of the act of completing the withdrawal of the tag after applying a bag neck to the closure of said bag.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to apparatus for dispensing closure devices, such as those that are made of polystyrene and are used to close the necks of polyethylene bags in which food and other products are packaged. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus for dispensing plastic closure devices, to each of which is attached a paper tag on which price information or other advertising matter can be printed, as the devices are secured one-by-one to the nec'ks of bags.

The plastic closure devices herewith concerned are made of sheet polystyrene and are characterized by having a bag-neck-confining opening, and an entrance slot or mouth extending from the edge of the closure to the opening. The paper tag mentioned above is attached to one side of the device by a suitable adhesive. The plastic closure device and paper tag thus form a two-level combination, the total thickness of which is equal to the combined thicknesses of the plastic part and the paper tag.

While the prior art abounds with dispensing devices for dispensing fiat objects from the bottom end of a vertical column of these, which devices are manually operable to make such objects available one at a time, no such device has heretofor been developed which is adapted to perform such a feeding operation for a vertical stack of an assembled closure device and price tag as above described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for dispensing such plastic closure device and paper bag combinations.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such dispensing apparatus that will also hold such a plastic closure device and paper tag combination in proper position to receive the neck of a polyethylene bag manually inserted therein.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus wherein the act of withdrawing a bag and closure device attached thereto actuates the apparatus, thereby to draw another plastic closure device and paper tag combination into the bag-neck-receiving position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent hereinafter.

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In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus is adapted to dispense a plastic closure device and paper tag combination from a vertical stack of such combinations, and then to hold such a combination in a bag-neck-receiving position while the neck of a bag is inserted into the bag-neck-confining opening thereof. The apparatus comprises means to hold a plurality of such combinations in vertical stacked relation, means to slide the lowest one in the stack to a bag-neck-receiving position, means to hold the combination in said position while the neck of a bag is inserted into the bag-neck-confining mouth thereof, and means to return the slide means back to its original position underneath the stack of plastic closure device and paper tag combinations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention, with parts broken away, showing several plastic closure device and paper tag combinations in phantom lines;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1, but showing only the lower portion of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2:

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3 and showing a polyethylene bag in the bag-neck-closing position;

FIG. 5 is another sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3, this view, however, showing the polyethylene bag in its forwardmost position;

FIG. 6 is another sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3, this view showing the slide means returning to its original position, the polyethylene bag having been removed; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one of the plastic closure device and paper tag combinations herewith concerned.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the plastic closure device and paper tag combination 10, which the apparatus of the present invention is designed to dispense, is shown in FIG. 7. The combination 10 includes a plastic closure device 12, which is made of polystyrene sheet material. The device 12 is characterized by having a bagneck-confining opening 14, which is connected to one of the edges 16 of the device 12 by a narrow entrance slot or mouth 18 having widely flaring lips 20. The front to back dimension of the device 12 may be about inch.

The plastic closure device 12 has upper and lower surfaces 22 and 24 respectively. Attached to the upper surface 22 by a suitable adhesive is a paper tag 30 on which price information or advertising matter may be imprinted. The paper tag may be of any suitable size and is preferably larger than the plastic closure device 12. The paper tag 30 is typically made of a stiff paper, such as is commonly referred to as cardboard, and which may be coated or treated in any of a variety of ways. The plastic closure device 12 typically is 0.035 inch thick; the paper tag may be of lesser thickness. The relationship of these thicknesses to the apparatus of the present invention will be made more clear in the following description.

The apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Its operation is indicated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. The apparatus, which will be generally referred to by the numeral 40, includes a supporting plate 42, which is provided with bolt holes 44 in which are received bolts 45 so that it can be attached to a work bench or table 46, as desired. Attached to the rear of the sup- 3 porting plate 42, as by welding, is a vertically extending plate 48.

Attached to the plate 48 is a housing 50, as shown in FIG. 1. The housing 50 has a rear wall 52, which is attached to the plate 48 by a screw 54. Attached to the rear wall 52 are two side walls 56 and 58, and these side walls terminate at their lower ends 60 in inwardly extending flanges 62, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A forward wall 64, shown broken away in FIG. 1, completes the housing 50. The forward wall 64 has two rods 66 welded to the forward face 67 thereof, which rods 66 are adapted to be received in slots 68 formed in the forward ends of side brackets 70, which are suitably attached to the side walls 56, 58 as by welding. When the rods 66 are fitted within the slots 68 in the brackets 70, the forward wall 64 is retained in position.

Attached to the lower surfaces of the flanges 62 by welding is a base plate 72. The base plate 72 has a forwardly projecting portion 74, shown clearly in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which is positioned a slot 76 adapted to receive the neck of a bag B. (See FIGS. 4-6.) The base plate 72 also contains a rectangular interior slot 78, positioned in the central portion of the plate. Affixed to the upper surface 73 of the base plate 72 and at the forward edge 79 of the rectangular slot 78 are two stops 80, and these stops must extend above the upper surface 73 of the base plate 72 by an amount approximating the thickness of a plastic closure device 12. Thus, the rear edge 13 of the device 12 is retained by the stops 80 as the neck of the bag B is forced into the mouth 14 of the device 12.

Supported by the upper edges 82 of the side walls 56 and 58 is a crosspiece 84, as shown in FIG. 1. The crosspiece 84 rests in slots 57 provided in the side walls 56 and 58. Welded to the center 85 of the crosspiece 84 is a vertically extending rod 86, and this rod 86 depends downwardly interiorly of the housing 50 and is adapted to pass through the bag-neck-confining openings 14 in the plastic closure devices 12 when a plurality of the combinations 10 are stacked on the base plate 72. Thus, the rod 86 is supported at its uppper end 88, but its lower end 90 is spaced from the base plate 72 by an amount sufficient to allow a plastic closure device and paper tag combination 10 to pass thereunder. The mounting of the rod 86 is flexible, inasmuch as the crosspiece 84 can rotate in the slots 57. The rectangular slot '78 in the base plate 72 is positioned immediately beneath the lower end 90 of the rod 86.

A sliding plate 92 is mounted beneath the base plate 72 and is formed with a guide 94 on each of its lateral edges 96. The guides 94 are adapted to slide on the lateral edges 98 of the base plate 72, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Two vertically extending lugs 100 are formed, one on each side of the forward edge 102 of the sliding plate 92. The lugs 100 are positioned on either side of the forwardly projecting portion 74 of the base plate 72 and are adapted to catch the forward edge 31 of a paper tag 30. Thus, after a bag B has been inserted into the bag-neck-confining opening 14 of a plastic closure device 12, a forward pull on the bag will cause the forward edge 31 of the paper tag 30 to abut against the lugs 100, thereby to slide the plate 92 forwardly.

Affixed to the upper surface of the sliding plate 92 is a carrying lug 106, Afiixed to the lower surface of the sliding plate 92 is a stop plate 108. The lug 106 and the stop plate 108 are joined to the sliding plate 92 by means of a bolt 110 and nut 112, as shown in FIGS. 4-6.

The carrying lug 106 is itself best shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 6. It is seen to have a stepped forward edge 114, comprising a lower vertical surface 116 and an upper vertical surface 118. The surface 116 is substantially the same height as is the thickness of the base plate 72. The thickness of the upper surface 118 is substantially equal to the thickness of a plastic closure device 12.

The lug 106 is positioned on the sliding plate 92 so that it extends into and can ride within the rectangular slot 78 and it projects above the upper surface of the base plate 72. Thus, the lower vertical surface 116 functions as a stop to limit the forward motion of the sliding plate 92, and the upper vertical surface 118 functions as a means to slide one of the plastic closure device and paper tag combinations 10 forwardly along the base plate 72 when the sliding plate 92 is moved forwardly.

The lug 106 has an upper surface 120 which is tapered rearwardly from the stepped forward edge 114, thereby to act as a lift. In this manner, the lug 106 serves to lift the stack of plastic closure device and paper tag combinations 10 vertically when the sliding plate 92 retracts rearwar-dly along the base plate 72.

Afiixed to the lower surface 93 of the sliding plate 92 is a hook 122, to which is attached the forward portion 123 of a coiled spring 124. The rear portion 126 of the coiled spring 124 is attached to an upstanding bolt 128, which is received within the supporting plate 42. This is clearly shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 6. The coiled spring 124 is extended as the sliding plate 92 is pulled forwardly and serves to return the sliding plate 92 to its original position when forward pressure is removed.

Afiixed to the forward wall 64 of the housing 50 are two spring members 130 and 132, as clearly shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 6. The spring members 130 and 132, :are retained in position by a retaining block 134, which is attached to the forward wall 64 by means of a bolt 136, :as shown. The spring member 130 serves to prevent the stack of plastic closure device and paper tag combinations 10 from moving forwardly, and particularly serves to retain the next to lowest one from being pulled forwardly by the lug 106, which might occur due to friction between the upper surface of the lowest combination 10 and the next to lowest one. The spring 132 extends forwardly as shown and serves to maintain a downward pressure on the plastic closure device and paper tag combinations.

The operation of the apparatus 40 is best understood by referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. A stack of plastic closure device and paper tag combinations 10 is shown positioned on the base plate 72 with the rod 86 passing through the openings 14 thereof. FIG. 4 shows one of the combinations 10 in its bag-neck-receiving position, the operator having inserted the twisted neck of a bag B into the opening 14. The rear edge 13 of the plastic closure device 12 is seen abutting against the stops 80 on the base plate 72, furnishing resistance against the rearward thrust necessary to insert the neck of the bag B into the opening 14. The paper tag 30 is urged downwardly by the spring 132. The carrying lug 106 is shown with its upper vertical surface 118 abutting the rear edge 13 of the next plastic closure device 12 in the stack, ready to thrust tlhat particular combination 10 forwardly along the base plate 72, when the sliding plate 92 is moved forwardly.

After the neck of the bag B has been inserted into the opening 14 of the plastic closure device 12, as shown in FIG. 4, a forward pull is exerted on the bag B by the operator, thereby to draw the sliding plate 92 forwardly against the tension of the coiled spring 124. This is accomplished because the forward edge 31 of the paper tag 30 abuts against the lugs 100, thereby to transmit the forward pull to the sliding plate 92. As the sliding plate 92 moves forwardly, the surface 118 on the carrying lug 106 pushes the rear edge 13 of the next plastic closure device 12 forwardly until the lower vertical surface 116 of the lug 106 abuts against the forward edge 79 of the rectangular slot 78 in the base plate 72, as shown in FIG. 5. When this occurs, forward motion of the sliding plate 92 ceases and the next to lowest combination 10 is seen to be in the bag-neck-receiving position. The spring 130 is shown restraining the rest of the plastic closure device and paper tag combinations 10 in the stack, and particularly the next to lowest one, from moving forwardly, which might occur due to the friction between the upper surface of the lowest combination and the lower surface of the next to lowest one. The lower end 90 of the rod 86 is shown tilted somewhat forwardly, which is due to the rotation of the crosspiece 84, as above mentioned. During the entire operation the edges of the paper tags 30 are supported on the inwardly extending flanges 62. (See FIG. 3).

When the sliding plate 92 reaches its forwardmost position, as shown in FIG. 5, such that the lower vertical surface 116 of the lug 106 abuts the forward edge 79 of the rectangular slot 78 in the base plate 72, the operator pulls the bag B upwardly and outwardly thereby to remove it, along with its plastic closure device and paper tag combination, from contact with the lugs 100. This permits the coiled spring 124 to act upon the sliding plate 92 and return the same to its original position underneath the stack of plastic closure device and paper tag combinations 10. As the sliding plate 92 retracts rearwardly, the tapered upper surface 120 of the lug 106 slides back under the stack of plastic closure device and paper tag combinations 10, lifting the same as shown in FIG. 6. The sliding plate 92 moves rearwardly until the stop plate 108 abuts the rear wall 52 of the housing 50, thereby placing the apparatus 40 in condition for the entire sequence to be repeated.

In the foregoing description the apparatus of this invention has been described with reference to a certain particular preferred embodiment. It is to be understood, however, that the specific details shown are merely illustrative, and that the invention may be carried out in other ways without departing from the true spirit and scope of the following appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a dispenser of price tags each of which has a flat plastic bag closure glued to a front edge portion of the bottom face of said tag, a portion of said closure extending forwardly from beneath said tag and being provided with a bag neck closing aperture to which access is had through an opening in the front edge of said closure, the combination of:

a tubular magazine for receiving a stack of said tags;

a magazine bottom for supporting said stack, said bottom extending forwardly from beneath said stack to provide a support for side portions of the closure of a tag when the latter has been partially withdrawn forwardly from the bottom of said stack to a position in which the aperture of said closure is exposed forwardly and upwardly and downwardly for the introduction of a bag neck into said aperture;

reciprocating lug means for engaging the back of a closure of the bottom tag in said stack and shifting said tag and closure forwardly to locate the latter in said position;

spring means for retracting said reciprocating lug means following a tag and closure shifting movement as aforesaid;

stationary lug means located just back of said position to prevent backward movement of a closure from said position while a bag neck is being inserted in said closure;

means for actuating said reciprocating lug means manually, incidental to the forward withdrawal of the tag and its closure from said position after having applied a bag neck to said closure in said position,

whereby said reciprocating lug means is caused to engage the back of the closure of the next lowermost tag of said stack and shift said tag and closure forwardly delivering said closure into said position,

the means last recited being actuated by engagement with a front edge of a tag being withdrawn from said dispenser immediately following the application of a bag neck to the closure of said tag,

said magazine bottom being provided with an interior slot within which said reciprocating lug means reciprocates;

a plate slideably mounted on said bottom for reciprocating movement parallel with said slot, said reciprocating lug means being mounted on said plate; and

means formed on the front end of said plate for engagement incidental to the forward movement of manually withdrawing a tag and closure from said dispenser immediately following the application of a bag neck to said closure, for reciprocating said plate and lug means to deliver the closure of the next lowermost tag into said position.

2. A combination as recited in claim 1, wherein the lug means last recited therein are bent upwardly from front edge portions of said sliding plateto be engaged by corresponding front edge portions of a tag being withdrawn from the bottom of said dispenser by a bag neck which has just been applied to the closure of said tag.

3. A combinationas recited in claim 1, wherein said stationary lug means located just back of said position are formed on said bottom along the adjacent edge portions of said slot and have rearwardly inclined faces to lift the closure of a tag being fed forwardly from the bottom of said stack so that said closure will drop over and in front of said stationary lug means when arriving in said position.

4. A combination as recited in claim 3, wherein said reciprocating lug means constitutes a lug having a vertical overhanging front face which is slightly higher than said stationary lug means and overhangs the front edge of said slot so as to assure the delivery of each tag and closure combination with the closure thereof disposed in said position and forwardly clear of said stationary lug means so that as said reciprocating lug means withdraws following said feeding movement the closure delivered to said position is retained therein by said stationary lug means engaging the rear edge of the closure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,497,697 6/1924 Rice 221240 X 1,713,748 5/ 1929 Dimitrakis 22122 1,973,867 9/1934 Cook 221276 X 2,635,026 4/1953 Kreul 221-240 2,560,327 7/1951 Bergman 221--260 X 2,932,428 4/ 1960 McGranahan 221-238 3,153,493 10/1964 Westwood et a1. 221--276 X WILLIAM W. DYER, JR., Primary Examiner.

N. ABRAMS, Assistant Examiner. 

